Composer Roger Treece

Even though by now I have had several conversations with Roger and have the music in hand and have been with the Festival Youth Singers in rehearsal for the piece, I still find it hard to fathom that such an illustrious musician as Roger Treece is the composer of Kieran's Song and that he will be here to conduct the 130+ singers assembling for the world premiere on November 19.

As the excitement and planning for this once-in-a-lifetime event really begin to build, I encourage you to take a look at Roger's bio below and take a look at this video to see him in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYwjc6ImX1Q  Despite the crazy "camera-work" it gives you a great sense of the exciting vibe in performance.

Roger's Bio: Roger Treece designs musical experience: composing, arranging, producing, engineering, singing, and teaching. His work spans genres – classical, pop, jazz, commercial, world – and bridges mediums, equally comfortable in the studio or concert stage, integrating the perspective of the performer with the behind-the-scenes view of the producer.

His most ambitious project to date is the 2010 album VOCAbuLarieS, for which he was the lead architect, composing, orchestrating, recording, and editing seven extended compositions for voices, percussion, acoustic and virtual orchestra. Inspired by the improvisations of Bobby McFerrin, conceived by McFerrin’s manager, Linda Goldstien, and performed by Roger, McFerrin and 50 musicians from around the world, VOCAbuLarieS has been recognized as “a masterpiece”, “a glimpse of the future of choral music”, “a new standard for choral recording,” and has been nominated for three Grammy awards this year, including Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocals and Best Engineered Album, Classical.

Treece has conducted and performed VOCAbuLarieS with Bobby McFerrin and select musicians at the Vienna Opera House, Jazz At Lincoln Center, the Oregon Bach Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Schleswig-Holstein, Stimmen, and Ravinia festivals and in Munich, Prague, San Francisco and London.

As a composer, Treece has been commissioned by musical organizations worldwide, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Culture, the Danish Radio Symphony and Choir, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Chicago Children’s Choir.

His film and television credits include music for the Discovery Channel, Disneyworld, Microsoft, McDonalds, ABC, and The United Way, and he is author and singer of hundreds of jingles.

His arranging, production, and engineering for such artists as the Manhattan Transfer, American Idol’s Katherine McPhee, Barry Manilow, the New York Voices, the King’s Singers, and jazz legend Mark Murphy have earned him five Grammy nominations and 14 Downbeat awards.

Treece has also written hundreds of works for high school and college-level choir, orchestra, jazz band and chamber ensemble, many of which are published through the UNC JAZZ PRESS, Lindalamama, and Edition Ferrimontana.

An impassioned educator and clinician, he has taught extensively in both the US and in every country in Europe, helping thousands of musicians of all age groups toward virtuosic musicianship and stylistic flexibility in all aspects of composing and arranging, as well as vocal performance skills, integrating improvisation and world music techniques with traditional vocal pedagogy.

His Circlesongs curriculum, a program of study in composition, arranging, rhythm, conducting for singers, has been adopted for integration into the curriculum of the Royal Danish Academy of Music.
Roger is a member of ASCAP and NARAS.